This is not just any average engrave tablet you ’d discover at the back of a dusty museum . squad of archeologist in Turkey have been looking at this ancient etching and believe it ’s actually a wedding declaration , hold back insights into divorce and consecrated lady of pleasure along with the earliest have intercourse references to infertility and surrogate parenting .
The 4,000 - year - old Assyrian parched clay pad was originally unearthed at the UNESCO World Heritage site ofKültepe - Kaneshin Turkey ’s key Kayseri province . The tablet feature small illustrations and a wealth of text written in cuneiform hand , an other system of authorship first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia .
agree to new research detailed in the aesculapian journalGynecological Endocrinology , this text describe the marriage of a mankind and woman known as Laqipum and Hatala . As part of their agreement , it says the husband could engage the help of a foster female parent if the couple failed to conceive a babe two long time after the appointment of marriage ceremony .
These surrogate mother were actually female slaves or “ hallowed prostitutes ” known as hierodules . Bizarrely , there is some evidence that both manful and female prostitutionoccurred in spiritual templesof legion cultures through ancientness .
" The distaff slave would be freed after giving birth to the first manly child and ensure that the family is not left without a shaver , " said Professor Ahmet Berkız Turp from Harran University ’s Gynecology and Obstetrics Department , concord to theDaily Sabah .
In this particular cultivation , monogamy was the normal drill . It ’s thought this system of surrogacy and hierodules was a means of exert marriages even if infertility complications arose . Furthermore , infertility was not an satisfactory grounds for divorce in ancient Assyria .
concord to the discipline , the rest of the script understand : “ Should Laqipum prefer to divorce her , he must pay [ her ] five minas of silver – and should Hatala choose to disunite him , she must pay ( him ) five minas of silver . Witnesses : Masa , Ashurishtikal , Talia , Shupianika . ”
This means the tablet also serves a turn like a marriage contract bridge and a prenuptial agreement , sketch the issue of finances should a divorcement pass off .
The tablet is currently on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum . Almost 25,000 cuneiform tablets and texts have been discovered alongside this particular tablet at the site in Kültepe - Kanesh since excavations started in 1948 .
